The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit heard oral arguments today in Chicago Tribune v. University of Illinois. EPIC filed a "friend of the court" brief in the case, which concerns student privacy rights protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act ("FERPA"). EPIC's brief argued that Congress intended to protect student records, including admissions files, from unauthorized release and that Illinois' open government law must yield to the federal privacy law. In this case, the Tribune requested documents from the University of Illinois, under Illinois' open government law, while investigating alleged corruption in the admissions practices of the University. The University denied the Tribune's request, stating that the requested documents contained the personally identifiable information of students and were thereby protected by federal law. A lower federal court found that Illinois law required the documents to be released. The Depart of Justice also filed a brief in support of student privacy in the case. For more information, see EPIC: Chicago Tribune v. University of Illinois and EPIC: Student Privacy.